Thursday Bolts – 9.1.11

It’s September 1 and there’s still no NBA season on the horizon. That terrifies the crap out of me. This time last year we were 27 days away from the start of training camp and all the season previews and predictions were starting to come together. Now, nothing. Sad faces.

Zach Lowe of SI on Melo’s lockout idea to just let the players play: “It makes so much sense, right? The NBA had a huge season last year, in terms of attendance, TV ratings and revenue, so why blow that momentum with a season-killing lockout when the league could proceed as normal with its on-court product while the big wigs negotiate? There is, of course, some precedent for what Anthony is suggesting. The NBA and the union agreed on a temporary no-strike/no-lockout clause after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement in 1994 in order to make sure the following season remained intact. And the NFL bought itself an extra year to negotiate its new collective bargaining agreement by tacking a salary cap-less season (the 2010 season) onto the end of the prior CBA.”

Hakim Warrick is trying to set up a Philly versus Melo/Goodman game: “He said he wouldn’t bring that same team,” Warrick said. “He said he’d probably bring Kevin Durant, Ty Lawson and other guys from the Baltimore/D.C. area. And for me, other than Lou Will, it’s pretty much all Philly. All people who played in Philly and grew up in Philly … Lou Will is the only one that’s from somewhere else. He’s kind of like an adopted son of Philly, so I let him on the team.”

In game one of EuroBasket, Serge Ibaka scored seven points and grabbed a rebound in 14 minutes for Spain.

Beckley Mason of HoopSpeak on why the owners don’t need to win the PR war: “I imagine that’s why Stern and the owners seem relatively uninterested in conquering public opinion. Not only is it a tough mountain to climb, the reward upon summiting is a devalued product. The NBA’s company line will always be about the bottom line. If the owners come out of this looking like a bunch of rich punks, but they secure a revolutionary deal, that’d be just fine. After all, isn’t that what most paying fans think of them already?”